Richard Smalley (nonfiction)
Richard Errett Smalley (June 6, 1943 – October 28, 2005) was the Gene and Norman Hackerman Professor of Chemistry and a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Rice University, in Houston, Texas.
Smalley's research in physical chemistry investigated formation of inorganic and semiconductor clusters using pulsed molecular beams and time-of-flight mass spectrometry. As a consequence of this expertise, Robert Curl introduced him to Harry Kroto in order to investigate a question about the constituents of astronomical dust. These are carbon-rich grains expelled by old stars such as R Coronae Borealis. The result of this collaboration was the discovery of C60 ("buckyballs") and the fullerenes as the third allotropic form of carbon.
This work earned Smalley, Curl, and Kroto 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Smalley was an advocate of nanotechnology and its applications. Smalley persuaded the administration of Rice University under then-president Malcolm Gillis to create Rice's Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNST) focusing on any aspect of molecular nanotechnology.
He was an outspoken skeptic of the idea of molecular assemblers, as advocated by K. Eric Drexler. His main scientific objections, which he termed the “fat fingers problem" and the "sticky fingers problem”, argued against the feasibility of molecular assemblers being able to precisely select and place individual atoms. He also believed that Drexler’s speculations about apocalyptic dangers of molecular assemblers threatened the public support for development of nanotechnology.
Starting in the late 1990s, Smalley advocated for the need for cheap, clean energy, which he described as the number one problem facing humanity in the 21st century. He described what he called "The Terawatt Challenge", the need to develop a new power source capable of increasing "our energy output by a minimum factor of two, the generally agreed-upon number, certainly by the middle of the century, but preferably well before that."
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External links:
- Richard Smalley @ Wikipedia